Towards Sustainable and Ethical Finance

In recent years, banks have shifted their activities from traditional borrowing and lending operations to financial markets. Andrea Baranes argues that today the banks bear huge responsibilities for the financial and economic crises. The private banks also deserve strong criticism for their poor environmental and social record. Major changes are needed if a sustainable path for the financial system is to be put in place. Ethical finance institutions represent a concrete alternative as well as an example for other banks. At the same time, mindsets need to change to bring finance back to its original role: an instrument at the service of economic, trade and human activities, and not an end in itself: to produce money out of money in the shortest possible time.